Yes, you read that right. The Nissan Leaf is capable of suriving hellish Metro Manila traffic.

At the 6th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit, we got to speak with Nicholas Thomas, General Manager, EV Division of Nissan Motors Ltd. When asked how the Leaf would fare in the country's worsening traffic conditions, he said that it would be capable of taking it on at the same time retaining its real world range of approximately 200-280 km. So no, the Leaf won't just suddenly run out of juice in the middle of standstill EDSA traffic, provided that it was charged beforehand.

How so you may ask? The Leaf is a pure electric vehicle which doesn't use a traditional internal-combustion engine. That said, when the car isn't moving, power is still stored in the batteries and is only used to supply auxiliary power such as air-conditioning, infotainment system, and the lights. It is only when the car moves does the primary battery system is used and the range depletes.

Aside from that, the Leaf also benefits from regenerative braking. Nissan fitted the Leaf with a new feature in which they call e-Pedal in which you can drive the car simply by using one pedal alone. You can read more on how the Nissan Leaf drives in our feature here.

For the time being, Nissan Philippines has yet to announce whether the Leaf will be made available in the country. They are still currently studying whether there is enough infrastructure to support electric vehicles in the Philippines. That said, should the Leaf arrive, it can take on Metro Manila traffic like any internal-combustion engine vehicle.